Bowling Green State University Athletics
Hall of Famer Phil Koester Returns to BGSU as the Diving Coach
July 26, 2016 | Women's Swimming & Diving, Swimming & Diving
Bowling Green, Ohio – Second year head women's swimming and diving coach Matt Ense is excited to announce the hiring of former Falcon diver Phil Koester as the new diving coach, effectively immediately.
A 1984 BGSU graduate and a 1990 inductee into the BGSU Athletics Hall of Fame, Koester returns to BGSU as the diving coach where he served in the same position from 1994 to 2002.
"I am extremely excited to announce Phil Koester's return home to Bowling Green State University. Coach Koester has had success at every level of diving from when he was a student-athlete here at BG and since he has become a coach and mentor to his collegiate and high school teams," commented Coach Ense. "The current team is very fortunate to have the expertise that Coach Koester brings with him to Bowling Green and we immediately have the ability to be placing divers in finals at the conference meet."
Possibly the best diver in the history of the Mid-American Conference, Koester is the only diver in league history to win four one-meter diving titles and the only one to win a total of seven league titles in the one- and three-meter events combined while competing for the Falcons from 1979-83. He won the conference's one-meter event each of his four years at BGSU, and captured MAC three-meter titles as a sophomore, junior, and senior, while finishing as the runner-up as a freshman.
The Ann Arbor, Mich., native also was honored as the conference's "Diver of the Year" each of his final three campaigns on the Falcon varsity team. In addition, Koester was the co-recipient of the MAC's "Outstanding Senior" Award in 1983.
He left BGSU holding all four school diving marks, three of which still stand (1-meter/6 dives, 3-meter/6 dives, 3-meter/11 dives). His three-meter mark of 510.55 registered as a junior established a then-conference record for 11 dives.
Koester, who served as BG's diving coach in 1983-84 as a student assistant, qualified for the NCAA Championships as a sophomore and senior. He placed 28th nationally on the three-meter board and 35th in the one-meter competition in 1983. He placed 29th in the three-meter event in 1981.
A team captain and the team MVP his senior year in 1982-83, Koester won the prestigious Mike Peppe Invitational in Ft. Lauderdale, Florida in 1980.
"I am really excited to join a tremendous coaching staff at Bowling Green. They are committed to becoming one of the premier teams in the MAC and they are investing a ton of support into diving," stated Coach Koester. "I am looking forward to working with the great young ladies that are already on the team and with the great recruits they have coming in this fall. I am anxious to get started and looking forward to again being part of the Falcon swimming and diving family."
After serving as the diving coach for the Falcons from 1994 to 2002, Koester has worked as a high school and club diving coach for various programs since 2003 and continues to work with them to this day.
Most recently, Koester serves as the Aquatic Director for the Sylvania School District.
"What set Phil apart from the other candidates was his passion for his University and he shared our vision and goal of swimming and diving being one team as a family. Phil will be an asset to our University, staff and team in many ways," Ense continued.
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A 1984 BGSU graduate and a 1990 inductee into the BGSU Athletics Hall of Fame, Koester returns to BGSU as the diving coach where he served in the same position from 1994 to 2002.
"I am extremely excited to announce Phil Koester's return home to Bowling Green State University. Coach Koester has had success at every level of diving from when he was a student-athlete here at BG and since he has become a coach and mentor to his collegiate and high school teams," commented Coach Ense. "The current team is very fortunate to have the expertise that Coach Koester brings with him to Bowling Green and we immediately have the ability to be placing divers in finals at the conference meet."
Possibly the best diver in the history of the Mid-American Conference, Koester is the only diver in league history to win four one-meter diving titles and the only one to win a total of seven league titles in the one- and three-meter events combined while competing for the Falcons from 1979-83. He won the conference's one-meter event each of his four years at BGSU, and captured MAC three-meter titles as a sophomore, junior, and senior, while finishing as the runner-up as a freshman.
The Ann Arbor, Mich., native also was honored as the conference's "Diver of the Year" each of his final three campaigns on the Falcon varsity team. In addition, Koester was the co-recipient of the MAC's "Outstanding Senior" Award in 1983.
He left BGSU holding all four school diving marks, three of which still stand (1-meter/6 dives, 3-meter/6 dives, 3-meter/11 dives). His three-meter mark of 510.55 registered as a junior established a then-conference record for 11 dives.
Koester, who served as BG's diving coach in 1983-84 as a student assistant, qualified for the NCAA Championships as a sophomore and senior. He placed 28th nationally on the three-meter board and 35th in the one-meter competition in 1983. He placed 29th in the three-meter event in 1981.
A team captain and the team MVP his senior year in 1982-83, Koester won the prestigious Mike Peppe Invitational in Ft. Lauderdale, Florida in 1980.
"I am really excited to join a tremendous coaching staff at Bowling Green. They are committed to becoming one of the premier teams in the MAC and they are investing a ton of support into diving," stated Coach Koester. "I am looking forward to working with the great young ladies that are already on the team and with the great recruits they have coming in this fall. I am anxious to get started and looking forward to again being part of the Falcon swimming and diving family."
After serving as the diving coach for the Falcons from 1994 to 2002, Koester has worked as a high school and club diving coach for various programs since 2003 and continues to work with them to this day.
Most recently, Koester serves as the Aquatic Director for the Sylvania School District.
"What set Phil apart from the other candidates was his passion for his University and he shared our vision and goal of swimming and diving being one team as a family. Phil will be an asset to our University, staff and team in many ways," Ense continued.
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